Corvette Racing to Begin Testing C7.R Soon

The Corvette Racing Team’s C6.R went out not with a bang, but a whimper at the 81st running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. The team’s two Corvettes finished in fourth and seventh place in their classes, failing to make the podium in the swan song for the last-generation Corvette. While they’ve seen success elsewhere this season, Corvette Racing had a hard time keeping up with the more modern competition.

No wonder that testing of a race-bred Corvette C7.R will begin in July and, according to GM Authority’s well-placed sources, the new “aggressive” design will make the C6 look “dated.” We hate to seem rude, but it’s out with the old and in with the new. As Douglas Adams might say, “So long, and thanks for all the fish.”

Details on the race-prepped Corvette C7.R remain under wraps, though we can rather safely assume that the all-new LT1 engine will replace the LSx-based motors the C6.R currently runs. We’re also expecting a low-slung, uber-aggressive look for the Corvette C7.R, one that replaces the soft curves of the C6 with sharp, hard edges. We can’t wait to see what a race car Corvette C7 looks like, and the above rendering from Jon Sibal may give us some idea of what we might expect.

Alas, the new Corvette C7.R won’t make its debut until the beginning of the 2014 racing season. Until then, we’ll have to hope for some well-placed spy pics or leaked internal photos of the transformation the Corvette C7.R will undergo. We waited this long for the seventh gen Corvette’s debut though, so what’s a few more months for the C7.R?